Jet heaters

woodworkingboy

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I'm thinking about maybe getting a kerosene jet heater. Been in places that use them, but little direct experience myself. I get to my shop in the morning and it takes an hour or two before the wood stove makes the temperature fairly comfortable. I think the heater would make it a bit easier to tear myself away from standing next to the wood heat. I have the area closed off where my bench is and am most of the time working, but sometimes I might be on a machine in a different part of the shop which is farther from the stove. I thought that I could keep the partition closed and use the jet heater in the machine area. It seems like it could be useful, and I think a smaller size would be sufficient. Anybody have some experience with those? If so, how do you like them? I think they come with thermostats on them now. My shop has a lot of ventilation.

Thanks.
 

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They do pretty good after they warm up .On start up they might blow a little smoke .You can buy them that run off propane too if that would be more desirable .Noisey rascals though .
 
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  • #4
Al, I had a propane heater once, good heat, but it went through fuel fast. Propane for cooking, generally, and boilers. Fuel cost is quite high here, I think kerosene is the cheapest. No natural gas here in my area, MB, sometimes in parts of larger towns, but still undeveloped on a large scale. My understanding is that the jet heaters put out a fair amount of exhaust, so some ventilation is required.
 
Mu understanding is that the jet heaters put out a fair amount of exhaust, so some ventilation is required.

That sounds like one benefit would cancel out the other, then. What about sealing off the ventilation and using an electric space heater?
 
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  • #7
Damn, Ed, not what I hoped to read. No good, ay. You rarely see them now, except at construction sites sometimes, temporary locations. Where I apprenticed they had two, one at each end of the machine room roaring away. That was a long time ago, so I had hoped they were more efficient now, better devices. It wasn't my task to fill them, so I don't know how quickly the tanks emptied.

Electricity for heating is cost out of sight. With the nuclear disaster, rates are going even higher. I'm looking for something that will blow heat over some distance, why the jet type seemed good.
 
I was mainly meaning using the ele heater just until the wood stove kicked in gear, not full time. But I hear ya - heating with ele is EXPENSIVE!
 
They are awfully noisy and kind of smelly. My bud uses one in his shop along with a big wood furnace. I think you might be happy for what you want it for. He only runs it till the chill is off. 10 or 15 minutes. 125,000 btu-1gph 170-1.3 210-1.6 So that would be about 1 quart of kerosene for 10 or 15 minutes. Could you rent one for a day to try it? If it is old and hasn't been maintained with a new nozzle it will stink more.

He tried to sell me his wood furnace for $100. He was going to use a kerosene pot burner to heat his shop. I told him he should keep the furnace but he said he didn't want to cut wood. After one winter with the kerosene I helped him hook up the wood furnace. We still laugh about it.
 
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  • #10
Renting for a try, I think they are available. Great idea, Tom. Yes, that is the general plan, using one until the wood heat makes things tolerable. It can be painful in the morning sometimes.....Jan and Feb. So far, unseasonably cold. Probably a smaller one doesn't use so much fuel.
 
I absolutely can't tolerate them due to the fumes. I think you definitely need to try one first before buying. Also, they are obnoxiously loud. Don't plan on doing any meditating over your work while it's running.
 
They are awfully noisy and kind of smelly.

Same experience here. I eventually got rid of mine. It was nice when working on a car outside or something but it went through fuel fast and had a bad bearing in the fan after the first 10 hours of using it. My dad has one and still uses it with his garage door half open.

I got a 240v electric from northern tools for the garage a few years ago. When it's plugged in my electric meter spins as fast as a circ saw blade but the thing is way more efficient and convenient than one of those torpedos.
 
Jay, I've got one like in your photo - 150,000 btu. Terrible Loud like a jet engine. Lots of heat -- will burn the hair off your legs at 2 meters. They definitely need a lot of space and a fresh air source to prevent CO asphyxiation. I used flu pipe to provide outside air to the heater intake. When setup well they don't smell bad. I've got mine setup in the shop on a line voltage thermostat switch. It's unpleasant enough that I don't use it unless I have to glue or paint something where the curing temperature is important.

Just go the shop early. Start the fire. Go home have a cup of tea. Come back in a hour, warm inside and out. ;)
 
I only ever used the two "salamander heaters " I have for working on equipment in the dead of winter .If I could just get the temp up to 50 it helped a lot .
 
Like the others said, it's noisy, and smelly! I use one in the garage once in a while to cut the chill. We were doing an engine swap several years ago on an F250 and couldn't close the door all the way. It would take the chill off, but you couldn't hear anything but it! We'd run it ten min, then work 30, run it 10 and so on.
When I use it now I back it to the door, crack the door open and point it into the garage, about 5 min and it's warm in there so I can shut it off and close the door, but you don't want to be out there during that time!
 
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  • #17
Wow, not looking to good here for the great potentiality of jet heaters! I just might have to rethink the matter. Still, I think I will try and rent one for some days. I am picturing the smell. In the least it might help to keep out the farmer neighbor that likes to come over quite frequently and ask if I have finished what I am working on, then stick around for another thirty minutes and keep me from doing that. Thanks for the thoughts, a big help.
 
A propane infrared heater might be an option .I have one mounted on an old hospitol cart with rollers I can push around that does a pretty good job,holds a 20 pound bottle in the bottom . It would be enough to take the chill off until you got the stove fired up .
 
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  • #19
Al, can you venture a guess at the heating time that you get out of a 20 pound bottle? Lots of propane suppliers around here.
 
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I can easily crack open a door if more ventilation is needed. Yeah my neighbor, when I first was contemplating moving into the place, the farmer went around and tried to get some organization going against the idea of a foreigner in their midst. He couldn't get much of a following. His wife died and now he gets lonely and comes over more than before. I mean the guy is ok, he helps me out once-in awhile, but my helping him out is more like constant, my screw drawers are at his disposal. I get lonely too sometimes. If he could spec it out and wouldn't barge in at inopportune times, like when i'm speaking with a potential customer, all would be forgiven. He is just kind of local rural, I think he has been out of the county once or twice.
 
I have a convection heater, 40-80k btu, that runs on propane I get about 20 hours on full bore per hundred pounds of gas. I went through 280lbs last winter and it was cold and a single buddy wanted to hang out and drink beer ALL the time. With that heater you only need a minimum of two square feet of opening to allow fresh air in.
 
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  • #24
Yes, I'm a gaijin, I have no plans to go get Japanese citizenship. It probably wouldn't even matter if i did and it ever came to blows between this country and the US again, I'd be sushi.

Rajan, looking at some convection heaters, it looks like they were made for one thing, heat. Mostly I'm more familiar with radiant type propane heaters.
 
The one I have is the Master tc80v or something like that. It heats my 25x25 foot two car garage to 70 if left on high for an hour with a fan to help circulate the heat, it works pretty well. I think if you had that and a wood burner a 100lb tank will last you a good portion of winter. Most of the time I let it roll on high till 60 and kick it to low for the maintain.
 
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